Darkstone Saga

Summary: This is a chapter from a novel I am writing. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

An Encounter (Chapter 10)

Chapter 10

Ydris watched the exchange between the late prince and his
lover and smiled coldly. Whilst love and other such emotions were not things he
could feed off, the sight of two people so in love and yet unable to touch made
him very happy. He wondered if he his brother or sisters had seen the exchange,
given that the prince had always been a favoured focus for them all, but he
sensed they were occupied elsewhere. Perhaps young Kaylen was doing something interesting
for once, now that his father was dead. That thought brought no end of pleasure
to him as Urthen’s death had been a violent and painful one and he had felt
every drop of pain and fear as the energy fed into his being.

The day humans realised their gods only had power because of
them, would be the day they would all be at the mercy of a lesser race of beings.
Obviously there were other gods in other dimensions but this was their home and
their realm, so to have their supremacy snatched away by the very people who
gave to them would be beyond embarrassing. He had met many of the deities that
watched over other dimensions and had found them, for the most part, to be
incredibly boring. They varied in power and jurisdiction but on the whole they
shared a common level of disinterest in almost everything to do with being a
god.

Ydris on the other hand revelled in the power and control
being a deity gave him. He was feared by nearly every living creature on
Helliom and a few other planets in this dimension and whilst his name and
appearance varied from people to people, one thing always remained the same. He
was the Darkness and shadows hid his creatures and followers from light. He was
not evil as such. Good and evil were not really concepts that gods bothered
with because each implied the other was in some way in the right when, in fact,
neither could exist without the other. Paradox was something Ydris loved also
and where ever he found one, his attention could be held for centuries.

He sensed a presence nearby and reached out with his mind to
encounter it. Being on this side of The Veil, any normal human or animal was
unlikely to even perceive his presence, let alone see him, but if it was a Mage
or a lunatic there was a chance he could be seen. When he finally found the
mind he was seeking he was surprised and little intrigued. It was the boy,
Kaylen, but not in his physical form. Mages and most humans were capable of
what was called Veil Walking, where their spiritual energy would cross The Veil
and they could move between this dimension and others. To them it seemed like
dreaming and in some cases it was but more often than not they were actually
experiencing the worlds of other people and sometimes their gods.

“Hello Kaylen.” he whispered.

“Who’s there?” Kaylen shouted in response. “I don’t know
where I am, can you help me?”

“You don’t need help, dear boy, you need knowledge.” Ydris’s
voice echoed all around Kaylen and came from no one direction. “Your father is
gone and you can’t even handle the simplest of Hala tests but wouldn’t you like
to know something that would make you of use to your Aracum?”

“The only thing I will be useful for is cleaning dishes and
horses soon.” Kaylen replied.

“The book your father gave you. Do you not think maybe if
you could read it, they might see value in keeping you there?”

“That would depend on if they thought to ask me about it
before or after they handed me over to the guards for being in possession of it
in the first place.” Kaylen turned about again. “You still haven’t answered my
questions. Who are you and where am I?”

“Neither are important and neither will I answer. All you
need to know is that I can give you what you need to stay in your precious
school but at a price.” Ydris said.

“I’m not showing the book to anyone. My father warned me
about it and I have seen what happens to Mages who defy the laws of our order.”
Kaylen replied.

“Very well, you don’t need to show it to anyone.” Ydris
said. “I will give you the key to reading the book but in exchange I require
you to carry out a task for me.”

“What sort of task?” Kaylen asked.

“You will be headed to the funeral of Prince Byren and you
will be travelling in the company of the Larmec royal family, yes?” Ydris
enquired.

“Clah and his family offered to take me as I can’t travel
through the Mirror Gates.” Kaylen said with more than a hint of frustration in
his tone.’

“I need something that is hidden in those tunnels the cave
dwellers use. It’s small and easy to carry and you will be in no danger
retrieving it.”

“What is it?” Kaylen asked.

“A small shard of metal, barely the length of your palm.”

“I tell you what.” Kaylen said. “You show yourself to me and
I will do exactly as you’ve asked.”

“Very well” Ydris replied.

A shape coalesced in front of Kaylen from what seemed like
tendrils of pure shadow. The long and thin vines of darkness wove a complex
pattern that eventually formed the shape of very all and incredibly handsome
man. He would have been well over three metre tall, his build was strong and
athletic and Kaylen imagined that even if he had been a normal height he still
would have been an imposing figure. Looking into the man’s eyes, Kaylen felt
like his lungs had been drained of air completely. Instead of the whites and
irises he expected to see, this man’s eyes were completely black with slowly
swirling lines of silver that seemed to marble across the surface in an ever
changing pattern. Kaylen knew who this was and knew that he would have no
choice but to follow the man’s instructions because this was no man. This was
Ydris, the Light Eater.

“I see you know me boy.” Ydris said with a cold smile. “I
trust you know better than to speak of my task for you to anyone?”

“Ye…yes.” Kaylen said, his voice breaking. “Of course.”

“Good boy. Now, hold out your hand.” Ydris instructed.

Kaylen obeyed immediately, his palms glistening with sweat
and small indentations in the skin where he had been squeezing his hand shut.
Ydris reached out and laid his palm across Kaylen’s, the skin of the boy practically
red hot compared to his which was like ice. Kaylen breathed in sharply as a
sense of awareness washed over him, his mind expanding and opening to take in
what seemed like the whole world. He closed his hand around the god’s and the
sensation of awareness intensified, he head throbbing with the pressure of so
much information. Ydris cried out in alarm and tried to free himself but Kaylen
had a firm grip on him and whilst his physical strength would have been no
match for Ydris, on this plane of existence strength meant nothing.

“I can feel everything inside me.” Kaylen said breathily. “It’s
like everything I can think of is possible.”

“Kaylen, let go now!” shouted Ydris.

“What is this? Is this what you feel all the time?” Kaylen
said in wonder.

“Kaylen you need to stop or I will have to hurt you.” Ydris
voice was shrill. “Let go human!”

Kaylen released Ydris’s hand and everything seemed to fade
into a dull reminder of what is was. Colours that would have once been vibrant
to his eyes, now seemed muted and washed out and he had a sense of
disconnection that almost caused him physical pain. He looked into Ydris’s eyes
and saw both anger and confusion, his face which had already been quite pale
had lightened to an almost translucent sate. Kaylen took a step back, afraid
that his actions had angered the god and he was going to be punished in some
way. Ydris stepped forward and placed a hand on Kaylen’s shoulder gently but
firmly.

“It seems you got more from our agreement than I had planned
Kaylen.” Ydris said. “What you know now I cannot take from you but remember
where it came from remember that if you do anything with this knowledge to challenge
me, I will end you.”

Kaylen nodded his understanding and Ydris smiled in a way
that, for him, was actually quite warm. He had no way of knowing how much the
boy knew or what he knew but Kaylen would not know that. Humans assumed their
gods to read minds and know their thoughts and actions before they had them but
that was not the case. Each human had two things to protect them from interference
from any of The Four and they were free will and physical body. Free will kept
them relatively safe on this side of The Veil and their physical body formed a
barrier none of The Four could penetrate. Giving Kaylen one last smile, Ydris
shoved him backwards as hard as he could and the force of the pushed shocked
Kaylen in consciousness.

“Kaylen, are you alright?” Clah whispered from his bed.

“I’m fine, just a bad dream.” Kaylen replied.

“It was more than that Kaylen.” Clah said. “Your whole body
was glowing so brightly I thought one of The Four had walked into our room.”

“Really? That’s strange.” Kaylen replied in a tired and
dismissive tone. “Maybe something to do with the Healing they did on me.”

“What healing?” Clah asked.

“I’m not allowed to talk about it.” Kaylen said sleepily.

“Kay, I think we should…”

“Clah I really appreciate your concern but we have to be up
in a few hours and as this will be the longest I have ever spent on the road, I
would rather not do it on a bad night’s sleep.”

“Sorry. I’ll be quiet.” Clah said sheepishly.

“Thank you. Now go back to sleep and make sure you wake me
as soon as you’re up.”

Write a Review
Did you enjoy my story? Please let me know what you think by leaving a review! Thanks,
Ant Ulijn

Nymeria:
Really can't get enough of this story. It flows well, it captivates the reader from page 1, and throws you into such a well-written, well conceptualized world that you'll believe it's real. Everything in the book is meshed together really well. From character backgrounds to plot twists, you can t...

PurpleInkling:
Hippocrite is spelt hypocrite.Also it is an awesome story! A good one after so long. I was hoping someone would write a good fanficiton playing off what Ron said at the station. You are doing a remarkable job. It would have been interesting if Albus had also ended up in Ravenclaw though that mig...

Charlie_8472:
Recommended to me by a friend, I thought I'd give this a read. As a hobbyist blacksmith, the blurb certainly caught my attention. I found the sentence about them drinking, dancing and fighting a strange combination of activities, perhaps a reflection of the writer’s personality and humour. Howeve...

Barbara Ponder:
This book is aimed at teenagers, however the style and content caught my attention and it is a long time since I was a teenager. Intriguing and enlightening novel I hope there will be a sequel soon.

mrh:
I love this story soooo much! This is such an incredible twist on Harry Potter's story. I have loved every word of it. I hope you will write more soon! I want to know what happens next sooo bad! Please write more!

Ben Gauger:
Kudos go to the author of ''Equinox: Into the Clouds'' for originality in character development as well as scene execution and in addition plot development, A truly original story if I do say so myself, though the spelling in and of itself could use a little work, but other than that a truly orig...

ga1984:
I really enjoyed it! Characters were deep and plot was pretty complex. A bit on the violent side but it doesnt detract from the story. Very dark but situations make sense. Ends kinda abruptly and later chapters will need some editing work. I'm assuming there's more in the works?

Morgan-Leigh Nortje:
A storyline and plot not unlike something George R R Martin would have produced, only with far less tragedy. The stunning story of a young princess who goes into hiding and takes on an epic journey to save her father and her kingdom. With characters that you feel compelled to love and a plot that...

Schaelz:
I was intrigued from the second I started reading, and it kept my interest the whole way through. Chelsea has a way with words that will enchant you until the very end. She is very poetic with the way she mixes genres and keeps you on the edge of your seat. The main character is also very relat...

Kayla Wentz:
This book had me hooked from the beginning! I kept coming back for more. It only took me a day to read! I couldn't put it down! Absolutely A-Mazing! This book keep the story going and there's never a dull moment!

Julia Summers PA:
It's Prodigious, Shocking, Stunning, Unbelievably fascinating and enduring yet evil has a presence about it! Epic writing style! - Nook Books and More BlogRed that pulls you in. The characters have a way of pulling you in. They are all unique in a way that gives it a different appeal then the ave...

europeanlove:
I gotta hand it to you. I love reading. I read books everyday. When the book is good I can read it in probably 13 hours. Your story was amazing. Great prose, very imaginative. Incredible dialogue. I am deeply impressed. Keep it up.